Kate Robinson - Weaving a new chapter

For Kate Robinson a Stitch N Time is not only to save nine, but to save the planet, something dear to her heart.
Owner of iconic local business Stitch N Time for the past seven years, Kate’s planning to close her sewing machine case and open up a new chapter of her life somewhere outside of Queenstown.
Born in England in the 1970s, an only child after the sad passing of a brother as a baby, it was during a school autobiography project that Kate discovered she had an older sister. Adopted out during her mother’s late teens, the search then began to find her, with Kate’s mum, and her mum’s twin, joining in the hunt. “They finally tracked her down through the London adoption agency. Mum found her just before my 16th birthday,” says Kate. Kate and her newly-discovered sister, Sophie, became great mates and some years later travelled together with Kate eventually settling in New Zealand and Sophie in Australia.
“It was really exciting. I kind of had a yearning for an older sibling. We’re both hobby sewers too,” says Kate, who reckons she got the handy stitching genes from her mum, and Austrian grandmother who taught embroidery and A-level English in Essex.
Growing up, while good at maths, Kate was always creative and into the arts. She could also sing. That gift saw her become part of her high school choir that scored a role in the London Palladium’s performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Actor Jason Donovan was the lead star so an excited Kate got to meet him, as well as his stand in, British TV presenter Phillip Schofield. “For 13 weeks we were driven up a good hour’s drive from Essex, three or four times a week for the shows.”
Top marks in her end of school exams landed Kate at Southampton Institute, then uni, studying fashion, communication and promotion.
However, travel was always on her radar and after working for a record shop owner in the late 1990s Kate scored a higher paying job for Lloyds TSB Bank, making her way up to the Fraud Department. “We detected cheque fraud and our team prevented 2.6million pounds landing in the wrong hands each year,” she says, proudly. A sophisticated scam group had infiltrated the British Postal Services as employees, intercepting all new chequebooks and credit cards in transit in the post on their way to clients.
“It was a fascinating job.” After six years she’d saved enough money and headed off to Thailand and Australia with Sophie. In Melbourne Kate managed a backpackers’ pub, which was one big party, organising themed events and parties.
New Zealand seemed like a good option when her visa ran out and after a job in the embroidery department at Impact Print and Stitch, Stitch N Time came up for sale. “My dad was here visiting and had owned his own real estate company for years. He encouraged me to buy it, helping me with advice and a loan.” The business had been owned by Marilyn Tosh for 30 years and had a great reputation locally.
While Kate’s just loved the friendships and relationships made with her customers over the years, the past few years have been “awful”, trying to maintain her sewing repair business. It’s time for a break and some more freedom to travel home each year and visit her ailing mum, so Stitch N Time is back on the market. “I don’t know where I will go. I have to sell the business first, but I think Queenstown’s become too expensive,” she says. “This job’s been so satisfying though, just to see people so stoked when I can fix their favourite garment, or brainstorming with a customer over an outfit for a special occasion and how to make it just right.”
Zero Waste has been her other passion, which has combined nicely with the business. Kate’s been a regular offering up her time for free at local recycling repair events. “I’ve been heavily involved in Wastebusters (Wanaka)’s repair events,” she says. “I have quite a talent with repairing zippers and Wastebusters employ me to go over there for the day to repair their stuff. In the first hour one day we put 15 jackets back on the shelf in their store. They just needed a new part.” It’s heart-breaking for Kate to see people throw out $600 Puffa jackets unnecessarily. “I charge $20 to put in a new slider,” she says. “Fast fashion creates such a false economy, a throw away generation. That’s why I do what I do, rescuing clothes.”
When she’s not pumping the peddle on her sewing machine Kate’s out having a blast on her beloved roller skates, something she’s enjoyed since she was a child.
A late bloomer on the Roller Derby rink, Kate discovered this sport through Queenstown Roller Derby at 37 and now competes around the region and nationally. “I just love it. It’s great!” she says. “It’s like rugby on roller skates with no ball.” She’s a force to be reckoned with on the rink as her Derby name – ‘Miss Jellyfish Stings’, derived from her nickname, suggests. However, just how that came about is a story for another day, says Kate, with a cheeky grin.